With Pokemon X and Y on the horizon and this being the first time I've actually been kinda excited about a Pokemon game (only one I've played was Crystal, and I enjoyed the hell out of it), I figured I'd pose the classic question. What criteria do you use when choosing a starter pokemon?

Is there a particular type that you go for by default? For example, do you always pick the water type? Or do you pick different types in different games? Do you choose the type that's opposite of the popular choice? Why do you pick the type you do?

Do you go by looks? Do you pick the cutest one? The most badass looking one? Or the "dorkiest" looking one, because you feel bad about it being picked last and could probably beat the popular choice in a battle? Do you use teh Internetz to see the leaked evolutions and pick based on that? (Tepig was adorable, but his pignite and emboar evolutions looked cheesy; on the other hand, oshawott looked dopey but his evolutions looked killer.) Do looks factor into your choice?

For any budding trainer, the choice of starter pokemon is a crucial choice, no?

It's been my experience that later in the game there are many interesting fire/water options but non-starter grass types tend to come early and be weaker overall or part of disadvantageous combos like bug-grass (coming from silver, but the pokemon counts were much lower back then so this may have changed).

I usually go in order (fire,water, grass, grass (LG), water(G4), fire) but by gen 5 I started going with whichever was the coolest (Instead of Tepig I chose Oshawott...who turned out to be amazing). That means Next gen I go with the fire starter finally.

For X-Y, I'm leaning toward Froakie. Chespin's adorable and Fennekin looks cool, so I'm kinda digging "dorky" looking Froakie. I'm thinking he'll be like Oshawott in that he may be dorky now, but he'll grow up totally awesome.

On the other hand, I agree with Vencoris that, at least in my experience, it's hard to find cool, or at least decent, grass types in the wild, whereas good water and fire types are far easier to encounter in the wild, like Gyrados or Magmar for example. So Chespin's an option for me too. Unfortunately, grass type starters have been hit or miss. Popular opinion seems to be that Bulbasaur was decent, Chikorita sucked, Treecko was an improvement (esp. in evolutions), Turtwig was supposedly the best grass starter (esp. in final evolution), and Snivy looked cooler than he performed. Like I said, I haven't played a Pokemon game since Crystal, so I'm just going by what I've read everywhere on the 'net. (I chose Cyndaquil as my starter in Crystal.)

So, yeah, I'm probably going either Froakie or Chespin. And I'm probably going to go with Y over X because as cool as that legendary deer looks, I'm more interested in a legendary flying type.

EDIT: Hathen, it's funny you say that, because from what I understand Charmander was at a disadvantage on the first two gyms yet Bulbasaur did well. Yet in the next set of games, Chikorita was the liability for the first couple of gyms.

This as well. Although I may change that based on whether its a type I've used a ton in previous games. For example, this gen I'm torn between Froakie and Fennekin, since I like Froakie aesthetically, but the last three Pokemon games I've played I've chosen water starters. Boyfriend wants Chespin so that's off the table.

The whole Pokemon culture for who is better is amazing to me. Game-wise, I find it too easy to really care about who I pick, most can get you by, and you're pretty well off if you main three of varied elements. But I hear head-to-head it gets really intense.

Dice- I smell a Pokemon/ love adventure crossover. Hey, if they could cross over Pokemon and Nobunaga's ambition, why not Pokemon and Memories Off with your cute girl designs of Chespin, Fennekin, and Froakie?

Taelus- In thinking about the fire-type starters, Charmander is still the best. Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, and Tepig don't seem to hold a candle to Charmander. We'll see how Fennekin compares.

Now to think about the water starters. Squirtle's good, Totodile was solid (he started out really strong, but Cyndaquil had the more powerful final evolution), don't know anything about Mudkip, Piplup's gotten mixed reviews with some saying he's great to others saying the opposite, Oshawott's evolutions are pretty badass